Yankees news and notes: It was a busy and emotional weekend

By Gary W. Marchese Jr.

Bronx, NY (July 19) – The New York Yankees had a very emotional weekend playing their first games after the loss of their owner as well as, the teams long-time announcer.  A tribute to both Bob Sheppard and George Steinbrenner precede the game. 

Old Timers Day was on Saturday, Yogi Berra did not make it, he suffered a fall, but he seems like he is doing ok.  Here are some news and notes before the Yankees start a brief two game series against the Anaheim Angels tomorrow.

Sergio Mitre made his last rehab start tonight in Scranton, he will be activated tomorrow and pitch on Saturday for the Yankees, taking Andy Pettitte’s spot in the rotation.  Mitre pitched 4 2/3 innings giving up four hits, which were all singles.  He walked two and struck out four, Mitre did not allow a ball hit into the air, which is a good sign.  He is a sinkerball pitcher, and if he is getting groundballs, he will be pitching well. 

Brian Cashman is working the phones trying to improve the bench and bullpen before the trade deadline but it is not that easy.  He pretty much said it is going to be tough, that they are asking for a lot and he is not willing to do it. 

A name that has come up in the last day or so is Scott Downs from Toronto; apparently, the Yankees and Red Sox are both have him high on the list.  The Yankees are not going to get a starting pitcher; they will go from within and hope that Pettitte only misses about a month.  The Yankees are relying on their offense stepping up also to lessen the load on the pitching staff. 

Alex Rodriguez is two away from career number 600 in home runs.  He said that the pursuit is much different for 600 although it is a very exclusive club.  He will become only the seventh member when he reaches the milestone.  He said he is not worried as much because they have team goals and he just wants to drive in runs and think small. 

It looks like Derek Jeter may have gotten out of his slump yesterday with two hits.  It was just his second multi-hit game in his last 16.  Mark Teixeira has now reached base safely in 35 straight games.  I do not think anyone has been talking about it at all, so it has gone unnoticed.  Teixeira is just one shy from the longest run in his career. 

The Yankees have matched their biggest lead of the season at three games over the Tampa Bay Rays.  They also have their best record after 91 games since the 1998 team, which went on to, win 125 games including postseason on their way to a championship. 

Pettitte suffered a similar injury to the one he has now in 2001 but does not remember much about it.  The Yankees just hope they can get by for about a month and he will come back rested and healthy for the stretch run. 

It is inevitable that injuries are going to happen; if you look at the Red Sox, they have injuries all over the place.  The Yankees were about to get Cliff Lee a couple of months ago and everyone was going nuts about the Yankees getting greedy but you never have enough pitching and this proves it. 

You can never fault someone for wanting to get better no matter what and that is the legacy that George Steinbrenner has left and it doesn’t look like that will change.

Posted by gmarchesej on July 20, 2010. Filed under MLB News,News and Sports with Gary W. Marchese Jr.,Sports,US Sports. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. Both comments and pings are currently closed.